Canada Start-Up Visa: What Is a Commitment Certificate and Letter of Support?

On This Page, You Will Find:

• Why the commitment certificate became the document that mattered most
• What a commitment certificate is
• What a letter of support is, and how the two differ
• What a designated organization actually commits to
• Investment thresholds and the syndication rules
• The essential person and the rest of the team
• Peer review and the 10-application annual cap
• What happens to 2025 commitment certificate holders who did not apply
• Applications already in the queue
• Fees, fraud and what IRCC has not published
• Frequently asked questions

For most of the Start-Up Visa Program’s life, the commitment certificate was treated as a procedural step – paperwork a designated organization filed once it agreed to back a business. That is no longer the right way to read it. Between December 2025 and June 2026, a valid commitment certificate was the single thing separating an entrepreneur who could still apply for permanent residence from one who could not.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) stopped accepting commitment certificates from designated organizations after December 31, 2025. Applicants holding a valid 2025 commitment certificate were given until June 30, 2026 to file. That date has now passed. Canada.ca lists the program’s status as « Paused, » and states plainly that it is « closed to all other applications. »

This page explains what the two documents are, what they obliged a designated organization to do, and what their holders are left with now.

Why the commitment certificate became the document that mattered most

The pause did not arrive all at once. IRCC capped intake in April 2024, suspended peer reviews in August 2024, and then wound the program down over the course of 2025. By the end of that year, no new commitments were being accepted at all.

What survived the cutoff was a narrow carve-out defined entirely by one document. IRCC’s guidance is consistent across every relevant page: to apply, you had to « have a valid 2025 commitment certificate » and « apply by June 30, 2026. » No commitment certificate meant no application, regardless of the strength of the business or the entrepreneur behind it. We have covered the broader shutdown in our reporting on Canada’s Start-Up Visa suspension and the promised 2026 entrepreneur pilot.

What a commitment certificate is

The commitment certificate is form IMM 5766. It is an immigration document completed by the designated organization and sent electronically to IRCC – not to the applicant. It must be accompanied by a term sheet or client agreement setting out the deal.

Each certificate carries a unique identifier built from the organization’s type and number: VC for a venture capital fund, AI for an angel investor group, BI for a business incubator. The certificate must record:

• the designated organization’s name and type
• the primary applicant and every other member of the entrepreneurial team who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
• the business name, type, industry sector and place of business in Canada
• the financial and legal structure, including who holds voting rights and in what proportion
• the total investment, itemised as cash, in-kind and other contributions
• all services the organization will provide and all fees it will charge the applicants
• confirmation that due diligence, including source of funds, was performed
• any family or prior business relationship between the organization and the applicants
• whether the organization supports a work permit for the applicants before permanent residence

A commitment certificate is valid for six months from the date it is issued. Only one certificate is required for an entire entrepreneurial team.

What a letter of support is, and how the two differ

The letter of support is form IMM 0211. It is generated from the commitment certificate and printed by the designated organization, which must give a copy to each member of the team. Every applicant includes their own copy with their permanent residence application.

The distinction is simple and worth stating precisely, because it is frequently muddled:

• The commitment certificate goes to IRCC. The applicant never files it. One per team.
• The letter of support goes to the applicant. It is the applicant’s proof of backing, and it is what they file. One per person.

A commonly repeated claim – including in the earlier version of this page – is that the certificate comes from incubators while the letter comes from investors. That is wrong. Both documents are produced by every type of designated organization, whether venture capital fund, angel group or incubator. The difference is direction, not source.

What a designated organization actually commits to

A designated organization is not simply vouching for an idea. On the certificate it must confirm it has verified control of the business’s intellectual property and other assets, assessed the management team, considered the viability of the business model, and satisfied itself that the venture targets a high-growth-potential product or service.

It must also attest to the ownership structure. Each applicant has to hold at least 10 per cent of the voting rights attached to all shares. No person or entity outside the group of qualified participants – the designated organizations and the applicants themselves – may hold 50 per cent or more. Together, qualified participants must hold more than half the voting rights.

Investment thresholds and the syndication rules

The thresholds depend on the type of organization:

• Venture capital fund: a minimum investment of $200,000.
• Angel investor group: a minimum investment of $75,000.
• Business incubator: no minimum investment. Acceptance into the incubation program is the requirement. IRCC does, however, give priority processing to incubator-backed files reporting committed capital of at least $75,000, and to members of Canada’s Tech Network flagged for priority processing.

Where more than one investment organization backs the same business, IRCC calls this syndication. Every organization involved must be identified, but only one commitment certificate is sent to IRCC and only one letter of support is issued to the applicant. The threshold is set by the strongest participant, not by adding up the parts: if a designated venture capital fund is in the syndicate, the minimum total is $200,000 even where an angel group also invests. If at least one angel group is involved but no venture capital fund, the minimum total is $75,000.

The essential person and the rest of the team

On the certificate, the designated organization must name the applicant it considers critical to the business – the person without whom it would not be willing to invest. IRCC calls this the essential person. Up to five applicants can be supported by a single commitment.

The consequence is severe and easily overlooked. IRCC’s position is unambiguous: if the application of an essential person is refused, all related applicants are refused. A team’s fate is tied to one member. Identifying an essential applicant is also what makes the team eligible to be considered for the Start-Up Visa work permit.

Peer review and the 10-application annual cap

IRCC built a peer review mechanism into the program specifically to test commitments against industry norms and to guard against fraud. Where a file was sent for review, the relevant industry association assembled an anonymous expert panel to assess the organization’s due diligence, the terms of the commitment, the fees charged, the incorporation and ownership of the business, and – for incubator files – whether the start-up had genuinely been accepted into the program. Concerns could trigger a procedural fairness letter and, ultimately, refusal.

Peer reviews were paused on August 1, 2024, and any review then under way was cancelled. IRCC said it was changing the process; no replacement has been published.

Separately, from April 30, 2024, IRCC capped intake at applications associated with no more than 10 start-ups per designated organization per calendar year. That cap is the backdrop to the pressure on incubator-backed files we reported in Bill C-12 and business incubator applications.

What happens to 2025 commitment certificate holders who did not apply

There is no ambiguity here, and no soft landing. The June 30, 2026 deadline was firm. A valid 2025 commitment certificate that was not converted into a filed permanent residence application before that date no longer opens any door, because the program is not accepting applications from anyone.

IRCC has not published any extension, grace period, reconsideration mechanism or transitional measure for holders who missed the date. It has also not said that a 2025 commitment will carry any weight in whatever replaces the program. Entrepreneurs in this position should treat the Start-Up Visa route as closed and look at alternatives, including provincial entrepreneur programs, which operate on their own criteria and timelines.

A targeted « high impact » entrepreneur pilot has been promised for 2026. As of this writing, no eligibility criteria, investment thresholds or intake dates have been published on canada.ca. Our coverage of what has been signalled so far is in Canada’s plan for a high-impact start-up pilot.

Applications already in the queue

IRCC has committed to continue processing applications it accepted before June 30, 2026. Those files remain live and are being decided under the existing rules.

The optional Start-Up Visa work permit is closed to new applicants. Entrepreneurs who already hold one may be able to extend it from within Canada while their permanent residence application is processed – see our guide to the Start-Up Visa work permit.

On processing order, IRCC’s published priority criteria are based on the source of capital: files backed by venture capital funds, angel investor groups, incubators reporting at least $75,000 in committed capital, and Canada’s Tech Network members marked for priority processing. In addition, IRCC’s December 19, 2025 notice states that it is prioritizing the permanent residence applications of those already in Canada with a Start-Up Visa-specific work permit, as Levels Plan targets allow, while keeping the existing priority criteria in place.

Fees, fraud and what IRCC has not published

The commitment certificate is not a tradable asset. It is issued by an approved organization, sent directly to the government, and tied to a specific business and named team. It cannot be bought, transferred or reassigned, and any offer to sell one should be treated as a fraud.

IRCC built disclosure requirements into the form for exactly this reason. The designated organization must itemise every fee it charges the applicants, every other cost or exchange of funds, and when those funds will be collected. It must disclose any blood or marriage relationship with the applicants, any prior business dealings, how it learned of the business plan, and who prepared that plan. The peer review process was designed to test those disclosures against industry standards.

IRCC’s general fraud guidance applies: no one can guarantee a visa, only immigration officers can issue one, and offers of special deals or guaranteed entry are false. We could not locate a Start-Up Visa-specific fraud advisory on canada.ca dealing with the sale of commitment certificates, and we do not attribute one to IRCC.

For context on where the federal business category sits within overall admissions, see our summary of the Immigration Levels Plan.

Frequently Asked Questions